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Thursday, June 20, 2013

James Gandolfini

Actor James Gandolfini passed away yesterday.

For most people (or at the least the press), that means write about the HBO TV show "The Sopranos."

I don't know, maybe the non-stop hype killed the show for me. But I wasn't a fan.

I could take it or leave it.

But I was a fan of James Gandolfini and, if you love movies, you probably were a fan as well.

I can remember, for example, watching "Angie." That's the film where a too old Geena Davis is worried about being single and pregnant. Too old? Not too old to be pregnant but too old to be starring in a film that should have a 22 year old or younger woman in the role. She also has really bad, stringy wig hair. Couldn't they get her a good wig for before Angie gets her hair cut?

I don't know. But I do know Vinnie, the boyfriend, the father of the baby, was played by James Gandolfini and he stood out. I'd already noticed him in Melanie Griffith's "A Stranger Among Us." That was another bad movie. Melanie wasn't bad in it. But there was no reason for that movie (police officer Melanie goes undercover as an orthodox Jew!).

And he had played the thug that beats up Patricia Arquette in "True Romance." (Remember, Christian Slater leaves Patricia in the hotel and James arrives.)

Then he did "The Juror." Remember that? He's trying to kill Demi Moore for Alec Baldwin. But he would really prefer not to kill her.

And then came his finest performance, in the uneven "The Mexican." Julia Roberts is irritating in the film. She's just one-note and awful. Brad Pitt is like a student actor who wondered onto a film set, a high school student -- he's even worse than Julia. As a gay hit man, Gandolfini walks off with the film.

He is so frustrated by Julia (as is the audience) who he has kidnapped and you find yourself more drawn to him and liking him more than you do the stupid idiot that Brad's playing or the annoying loud mouth Julia's playing.

After that? I though he excelled in "The Last Castle" but felt he was standing still in films like "The Man Who Wasn't There," "Surviving Christmas," and "All the King's Men." Not bad performances, just nothing that had the freedom and life he's been working up to and achieved with "The Mexican." (I thought he was bad in "In the Loop").

But then, last year, came his career topping role in "Zero Dark Thirty." He played Leon Panetta, Director of the CIA and he was perfection. He had such stature and such gravity. At one point, he's got this light moment and he's so charming and his eyes twinkle (he's speaking to Jessica Chastain) and you realize this is a great actor who really is one of America's finest actors.

So, artistically, it's really sad that someone so on top of his game has passed away. But to have given so many fine performances and that legendary one, Brando-quality, performance in "Zero Dark Thirty" is something no one will ever be able to take away. He leaves a powerful legacy.

And if you loved films in the last three decades, chances are that at least once, Gandolfini was one of the reasons you loved them.

Wednesday, June 19, 2012. Chaos and violence continue, the United
Nations notes that Iraq was number three in 2012 in terms of its
citizens fleeing to other countries, the US State Dept gives Iraq a low
rating on its efforts or 'efforts' to end human trafficking, Ayad Allawi
gets interview by the BBC, candidates remain targeted in Iraq as
Nineveh Province and Anbar gear up for provincial elections, and more.

Two major reports that include Iraq were released today. First up, the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees issued their "Global Trends Report 2012" which found that the number of refugees worldwide increased.

The report notes that "the top five source countries of refugees at the
end of 2012" were: Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, the Syrian Arab Republic
and Sudan. That order is -- from highest to lowest -- the top five
refugee producing countries. When all five countries are combined, they
account for 55% of 2012 refugees worldwide. For Iraq, 2012 saw 746,400
Iraqis become external refugees (refer to Figure Four on page 13 of the
report). Table one on page 39 shows that Iraq has 1,131810 internally
displaced persons (IDPs).

Some people leave Iraq, some people come in. There's very little
discussion of either departures or arrivals -- especially when they take
place for for less than humane reasons. Today, US Secretary of State
John Kerry spoke of the issue of human trafficking.

Secretary John Kerry: Thank you very much, and welcome, all of you, to this remarkable
room, a room named after a Founding Father who was a lonely voice
against slavery long before there was a United States of America. And it
is called the Franklin Room, and you can see Ben Franklin looking over
us from the wall over there above the fireplace. It’s fitting that we
gather here today in this room in order to mark the importance of our
country remaining committed to this message that we send to all of the
world today.Thank you, Ambassador. Thank you, Lou, for your kind words. Thank you
most importantly, I think everybody here would join me in agreeing, you
are a TIP hero and we thank you for everything you’ve done these past
years. (Applause.) And I want to thank you and your team and everybody
who works in the Trafficking in Persons Office. Thank you, all of you
who are part of this effort today and those of you around the world who
helped produce this report. There’s a lot of hard work that goes into
this. This is a year-long effort. We’re already working on the next one
and we will make measurements that are based in fact and common sense.To our TIP Report heroes who have made a very long journey on very
short notice, we welcome you here and we’re very grateful for your
efforts. And everybody here will get to share in the remarkable
individual, personal journeys that they represent.When we think of the scale of modern-day slavery – literally tens of
millions who live in exploitation – this whole effort can seem daunting.
But it’s the right effort. And there are countless voiceless people,
countless nameless people except to their families or perhaps a phony
name by which they are being exploited, who look to us for their freedom
and for the possibility of life itself. It’s no understatement to say
that we are working to tackle an issue that millions of people assumed
had been dealt with a long time ago.But the problem unfortunately persists, and I hate to say in some
places can grow, and the challenge continues. And that is why the
inspiring examples that are here today remind us not just that we have
work to do, but that the actions of a single person can make all the
difference in the world and they can actually bring so many lives out of
bondage, out of the shadows, out of darkness. So I thank our TIP heroes
for their very personal individual commitment, for the example that
they set. And I thank all of you, those here and millions of others who
are out there waging this battle. I thank them all for their commitment.I want to acknowledge Somaly Mam, who is a survivor, who was a TIP
Report hero in 2005, and who is a hero every single day in helping women
and girls who have been abused to try to get their lives back.I’m also particularly happy to be joined here today by Congressman
Chris Smith. I’ve worked with Chris on this stuff. There’s nobody more
committed or dedicated. So thank you, Chris, for your strong voice and
leadership in these efforts. (Applause.) Trafficking in persons is one
of those rare issues that can bring people together across the aisles
without regard to ideology and without regard to politics, and that’s
the way it ought to be. I appreciate Chris’s advocacy on this issue. For
years together in Congress, we were able to work on this and some other
issues. And it’s no understatement to say that he was banging the drum
on this long before many in Congress even knew the term “trafficking in
persons” or understood what it really meant.
Lou mentioned a number of great American diplomats, but he left one
out, and that was one of our first African-American ambassadors,
Frederick Douglass. A century later, the Douglass family continues to
fight against all forms of slavery. And his direct descendant, Kenneth
Morris, who is the head of the family’s foundation, is here with us
today. He just came from the Capitol, where today Douglass was honored
at long last in our National Statuary Collection. And we welcome Ken
here. Thank you for being here with us today. Appreciate it. (Applause).

I know that's a long excerpt but if the issue is important -- and it is -- it's important to recognize those who work on it. Feminist Majority Foundation has noted, "The three most common forms of trafficking are labor
trafficking, including child labor, child soldiering and sweatshop
work; sex trafficking, including child sex tourism and 'mail order'
brides; and domestic servitude."

The State Dept's report is entitled "Trafficking in Persons Report 2013"
[available at the link in PDF or HTML]. Human trafficking is a global
problem. It's not limited to Iraq. It takes place in the United
States, it takes place everywhere. In fact, from the report, here's a
US horror story:

For over 20 years, the owners and staff of a turkey-processing plant
subjected 32 men with intellectual disabilities to severe verbal and
physical abuse. The company housed the workers in a “bunkhouse” with
inadequate heating, dirty mattresses, and a roof in such disrepair that
buckets were put out to catch rainwater; the infestation of insects was
so serious the men swatted cockroaches away as they ate. Although the
men were as productive as other workers, the company paid them only $15 a
week (41 cents an hour) for labor that legally should have been
compensated at $11-12 an hour. The employers hit, kicked, and generally
subjected the men to abuse, forcing some of the men to carry heavy
weights as punishment and in at least one case handcuffed a man to a
bed. Supervisors dismissed complaints of injuries or pain, denied the
men recreation, cellphones, and health care. The U.S. government filed
an abuse and discrimination case against the company for damages under
the Americans with Disabilities Act. During the trial, the attorney
representing the men said: “The evidence is these men were treated like
property…these men are people. They are individuals.” A jury awarded the
men a total of approximately $3,000,000, the largest jury verdict in
the history of U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

YUKI NOGUCHI: During the day, the men worked at a nearby processing plant, gutting
turkeys under the watchful eye of a contractor called Hill County Farms,
which was paid to oversee the men's work and living arrangements. Those
supervisors hit, kicked, handcuffed and verbally abused the men, who
were paid $2 a day. This went on for three decades, affecting 32 men. [Susan] Seehase (director of a support center)
says medical exams later revealed the men suffered diabetes,
hypertension, malnutrition, and festering fungal infections that had
gone untreated.SUSAN SEEHASE: Roots of teeth were exposed.

NOGUCHI: She says it went on and on because the men knew nothing better, and no one reported the abuse.SEEHASE:
Their life experiences didn't tell them that there was really another
option for them. It's incredibly difficult to try to understand. And I
have no explanation. And I don't know who can explain how this really
happened.

Again, human trafficking is a global horror. One of the most common misconceptions? As the State Dept report notes:

"Trafficking doesn’t happen here."Approaching human trafficking
as a crime that occurs only in far off places ignores situations of
forced labor or sex trafficking that may be happening closer to home.
Human trafficking is not a problem that involves only foreigners or
migrants, but one faced in nearly every corner of the world involving
citizens who may be exploited without ever leaving their hometown.

The US Ambassador at Large to Monitor Combat Trafficking in Person, Luis
CdeBaca, notes in the State Dept report's introduction that an
estimated 27 million people are trafficked worldwide but that, using
data provided by the governments of various countries, "only around
40,000 victims have been identified in the last year." The actual
number, from the report, is 46,570 which is an increase from 2011
(41,210) but still lower than the high of 2009 (49,105) (please note
these numbers begin with 2008). Of the 46,570 identified in 2012, only
7,705 resulted in trials and a little over half of those trials
resulted in convictions (4,746). From those numbers on trafficking,
it's broken down further for trafficking in prostitution alone, 1,153
went to trial and only 518 -- less than half -- resulted in
convictions. Again this is a global horror.

We do focus on Iraq here, so that's what we'll zoom in on. The report
notes, "Iraq is a source and destination country for men, women, and
children
subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor." Let's start with the
trafficking of Iraqis:

Iraqi women and girls
are subjected to sex and labor trafficking within the country and in
Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Iran,
Yemen, and Saudi Arabia. An international organization reported cases of
forced prostitution in the city of Tikrit; sex traffickers sell girls
and women from Baghdad, Kirkuk, and Syria for the approximate equivalent
of $1,000-5,000. Criminal gangs reportedly prostitute girls from
outside of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR) in the provinces of Erbil,
Dahuk, and Sulaymaniyah. An Iraqi official revealed that criminal
networks have been involved in sex trafficking of boys and girls. An NGO
reported that sex traffickers rape women and girls on film and
blackmail them into prostitution or recruit them in prisons by posting
bail and then forcing them into prostitution via debt bondage. An
international organization alleged that police officers and other
members of the security forces kidnapped women and girls and forced them
into prostitution in Kirkuk and Salah ad-Din Provinces. Some women and
children are pressured into prostitution by family members to escape
desperate economic circumstances. NGOs report that women are prostituted
in private residences, brothels, restaurants, and places of
entertainment. Some women and girls are subjected to sex trafficking
within Iraq through the use of temporary marriages (muta’a), by
which the family of the victim receives money in the form of a dowry in
exchange for permission for the woman or girl to be married for a
limited period of time, during which she is subjected to labor and sex
trafficking. Women are also subjected to forced domestic service through
forced marriages and the threat of forced divorce, and women who flee
such marriages or whose husbands divorce them are often vulnerable to
further forced labor or sexual servitude. Criminal gangs reportedly
subject children to forced begging and other types of forced labor.

The large population of internally displaced persons and refugees in
Iraq are particularly at risk of being subjected to forced labor and sex
trafficking. An international organization observed that Syrian
refugees in the Domiz refugee camp in Dahuk, Iraq, are particularly
vulnerable to trafficking. Specifically, women may begin commercially
dependent relationships with Iraqi men, men enter into employment
without contracts, and children are increasingly pressured to engage in
begging. In previous years, some Iraqi refugees in Syria reportedly
contracted their daughters to work as maids in Syrian households, where
some of them were reportedly raped, forced into prostitution, or
subjected to forced labor. In other instances, Iraqi refugees’ children
remained in Syria while their parents departed the country in search of
improved economic circumstances, leaving the children vulnerable to
trafficking. Previously, Iraqi sex trafficking victims deported from
Syria on prostitution charges were vulnerable to re-trafficking by
criminal gangs operating along the border. Iraqi refugees who
involuntarily return to Iraq from Syria are highly vulnerable to
exploitation and trafficking, due in part to the fact that female and
child returnees typically do not have a support network or community to
which they return.

Some Iraqis are trafficked within the borders of Iraq, some are
trafficked outside the border to another country. What of those
non-Iraqis who come to Iraq hoping for work or fleeing violence in their
own countries?

Iraq is also a destination for men and women who migrate from
Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka,
Thailand, Pakistan, Georgia, Jordan, Ethiopia, and Uganda and are
subsequently subjected to involuntary servitude as construction workers,
security guards, cleaners, handymen, and domestic workers. Women from
Iran, China, and the Philippines reportedly are subjected to forced
prostitution in Iraq. Some foreign migrants are recruited for work in
other countries such as Jordan or the Gulf States, but are forced,
coerced, or deceived into traveling to Iraq, where their passports are
confiscated and their wages withheld, ostensibly to repay labor brokers
for the costs of recruitment, transport, food, and lodging. Other
foreign migrants are aware they are destined for Iraq, but once in the
country, find the terms of employment are not what they expected or the
jobs they were promised do not exist, and they are forced to live in
work camps with substandard conditions. The Government of Nepal
continues to ban its citizens from migrating to Iraq for work.

The report classifies Iraq as a "Tier 2" country and explains,
"Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA's minimum
standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into
compliance with those standards." TVPA stands for "Trafficking Victims Protection Act." How did it garner that rating? From the report:

The Government of Iraq does not fully comply with the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking, but it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government conducted some
investigations and at least one prosecution under the 2012
anti-trafficking law. The government also established an
anti-trafficking department in the interior ministry, which collected
human trafficking law enforcement data and operated the newly
established anti-trafficking hotline. The inter-ministerial Central
Committee to Combat Trafficking in Persons was active in furthering the
government’s anti-trafficking efforts throughout the reporting period.
The committee met multiple times, publicized its meetings to raise
awareness about trafficking, and included participants from
international organizations, foreign governments, and NGOs. Despite
modest improvements in law enforcement efforts, the government failed to
investigate or punish government officials complicit in
trafficking-related offenses. Moreover, the government demonstrated
minimal efforts to identify and assist victims of forced labor and sex
trafficking, including those incarcerated for prostitution violations.
The government continued to arrest, detain, and prosecute victims of
forced prostitution and prohibit NGOs from operating shelters to protect
sex trafficking victims. Nonetheless, law enforcement officials worked,
on a limited basis, with NGOs and international organizations to refer
some victims to protection services. The government also established a
location for a temporary and permanent shelter for trafficking victims
and drafted shelter guidelines.

Last January, Iraq's Deputy at the Ministry of Interior, Adnan al-Assadi, was quick to proclaim to Alsumaria
that he was on the job and was letting the European Union know, adding,
"These workers enter the country either legally or illegally and some
companies oppress them, hurt them or ridicule them in an inhumane way."

Does anyone else see a problem?

How about the fact that he's only focusing on the trafficking of
non-Iraqis and his statements ignore the fact that Iraqis are being
trafficked (in and out of Iraq).

He might need to refer to the State Dept's remarks on common misconceptions.

If he seemed defensive at the start of the year, he had every reason to
be. For years now, Iraq's government has claimed it was addressing (and
solving!) the issue. In 2009, Rania Abouzeid (Time magazine) reported on the efforts of the Iraqi government to respond to State Dept condemnation on this issue. Abouzeid also noted:

The reason I ask is, for years now, starting with the New York Times 'reporting' that women who had died were "prostitutes," through the more recent attempt this year of AFP to pimp that lie, we have noted it is nonsense. If a group of women die, why would you besmirch their names?

Can a woman in Iraq be called anything worse than a prostitute? Had
she been branded that and lived, she would have risked being murdered in
a so-called 'honor' crime. The New York Times, to its credit, backed off from that nonsense. It seemed to be long gone. And then? Dropping back to the May 22nd snapshot:Alsumaria adds that an attack on a Baghdad home left 10 women and 4 men dead, an armed clash in Mosul left 1 rebel dead and two Iraqi soldiers injured, and they update the toll on the Kia mini-bus bombing noting 1 dead and seven injured. Fars News Agency reports 1 corpse was discovered by Camp Ashraf. AFP insists
that the Baghdad home was a brothel. They provide no quotes from
neighbors maintaining that and, after the attack, they weren't allowed
to enter the home so apparently AFP's confessing to visiting it before
the attack? They note, "Soldiers and police mainly armed with
Kalashnikov assault rifles and
pistols cordoned off the site, which was visited by high-ranking
officers." Considering the stigma attached to prostitution in Iraq, I'm
always amazed at how glibly some outlets are when it comes to making
that charge about the just murdered. They don't even wait a day. They
can't ever prove it, but it's apparently the thing to say when women
die: "Prostitute." Since they're so comfortable with it, maybe the need
get off their little asses and start reporting on who is visiting these
alleged brothels? Or would that take all the fun out of their smearing
dead women? And note, it's not an even an 'allegation,' it's presented
as fact. Because smearing Iraqis -- especially dead Iraqis -- has
always been a favorite hobby of the western press.

Can AFP explain how, the day the women died, the 'news' agency is able to say they were prostitutes? Were their johns AFP correspondents?

If not, what are they basing it on? Hearsay. Imagine that, Iraq might
be just like every other country on the face of the earth in that it has
nosy and judgmental neighbors.

The neighbors don't know anything, they've just formed judgments. Like
the Iraqis who attacked the LGBT community formed judgments. No one
deserves to be harmed or attacked for the 'crime' of falling in love.
But not only did it happen, some of the targeted men and women weren't
even gay or lesbian. But they got targeted because of small minded,
nosy neighbors.

Why AFP would want to help that along is beyond me.

But let's assume for just one second that the women in that house
'entertained' men. That still doesn't mean they were prostitutes. They
might not have been willing sex-workers, they may have been the victims
of human trafficking.

If that is the case, then AFP not only besmirched their reputations, AFP also
allowed these women to be defined by the very criminals who trafficked
them. Maybe in light of the State Dept's report today, AFP can take a look at that? And among the misconceptions mentioned in the report that AFP might want to consider in light of their 'reporting'? Try this one:

“She’s free to come and go.” Popular images of human trafficking
include dramatic kidnappings and people held under lock and key. More
common, but less visible, methods of control include psychological
coercion, debt bondage, withholding of documents and wages, and threats
of harm. As in domestic abuse cases, observing a person out in public or
taking public transportation does not mean that she is free from the
effective control of her trafficker.

(By the way, we were being kind May 22nd. Since we're addressing it again, the author of that report was W.G. Dunlop.)

Mark Thompson has a report for Time today entitled "How the Iraq War got off on the wrong foot."
Some may be amused by it but I do think many others will point out that
if you're article's about post-invasion US forces doing missions to
eradicate evidence and images of Saddam Hussein, you're not writing
about how the illegal war got off on the wrong foot -- which would be
with lies, hysteria and a compliant and cooperative media.

On the media, today BBC World Service's Sarah Montague interviewed
Iraqiya leader Ayad Allawi. The audio segment has garnered a great
deal of attention and BBC notes that video of the interview will be featured tomorrow on the BBC TV program Hardtalk.
I'll make that my excuse for waiting until tomorrow to seriously dig
into that interview. (In reality, the human trafficking report wasn't
going to be a big part of this snapshot until 2 State Dept friends
pointed out that the US press is largely ignoring the report released
today.) In the interview, he discussed the climate in Iraq when
Montague repeatedly stated he hadn't accomplished anything. He pointed
out that 18 Iraqiya candidates had been killed running for office in
2013. She didn't even pause, she didn't take a moment to absorb.

I like Gabby Giffords and this is not to make light of her shooting.
But when she was shot, the US was outraged. As they should have been.

But that was one politician. This year alone, in Iraq, 18 politicians
were assassinated. That's news. That's an issue and it does go to the
climate that's created in the country.

National Iraqi News Agency reports
a Mosul suicide bomber killed political candidate Sheikh Younis
al-Rammah today, as well as "four of his brothers and cousins" and left
six more injured. AFP reports, "Ramah's United Iraq party is seen as allied to Prime Minister Nuri
al-Maliki. He was not running in the June 20 polls, but several of his
party members were candidates."

Tomorrow's vote? April 20th, Iraq saw provincial elections take place in 12 of Iraq's 18 provinces. As Kirk H. Sowell (Foreign Policy) rightly observed,
"Iraq's April 20 provincial elections were like two elections in one
country. They included all provinces outside the Kurdistan region
except Kirkuk, due to a long-standing dispute over election law, and the
predominately Sunni provinces of Anbar and Ninawa, where the cabinet
postponed elections under the pretext of security following a series of
candidate assassinations." The United Nations continues to press for
Kirkuk to vote this year. Whether that happens or not, tomorrow is when
Anbar and Nineveh Province are supposed to finally be allowed to vote.

All Iraq News notes
that Allawi declared today the postponing had been illegal and
unconstitutional. He is correct. Any postponement is supposed to go
through the Independent High Electoral Committee. They -- and only they
-- are the ones who can make that judgment. They are over scheduling
elections. Parliament has to vote on dates and other issues. But this
had already been taken care, elections had been announced and Nouri just
declared that the two provinces -- the two he is most unpopular in --
would not be voting.

As Ayad Allawi noted, most of those eligible to vote in the 12 provinces
that were allowed to vote? They chose not to vote and voter turnout
was down to approximately 30% (he notes that in his BBC interview
today).

Saleh al-Mutlaq, the Iraqi deputy prime minister who also leads the
Iraqi Front for National Dialogue, said he is concerned about electoral
fraud in the provinces of Ninevah and Anbar. He accused his opponents of
having “a clear project to divide Iraq.” Meanwhile, the United bloc,
led by parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, was optimistic that the
coming election would be better than the last. The electoral battle in
Ninevah and Anbar is almost exclusively between Mutlaq and Nujaifi.

In the BBC interview today, Sarah Montague could not accept the fact
that there were ex-Iraqiya -- and Ayad Allawi was referring to -- though
not naming -- Saleh al-Mutlaq. I don't believe she has any idea how
unpopular al-Mutlaq has become with many one-time supporters. He was
seen as having 'survived' when Tareq al-Hashemi was railroaded and
al-Mutlaq's 'crime' was much greater -- hitting at Nouri's vanity by
telling CNN that Nouri was the new Saddam. But Nouri and Saleh patched
things up and Saleh created a backlash in the process. December 30th,
he showed up at the Mosul protest and got the sort of welcome he had
earned. When we noted it, some insisted we were crazy, patted the
little lady on the head and maintained if that were true certainly
Prashant Rao's circle jerk would have noted it.

Based on what? He didn't smear him like that in the last provincial
elections (2009). He didn't smear him at all in the 2010 elections.
But, Saleh wasn't competing in those. No, he'd been judged to be a
Ba'athists and Nouri removed Saleh's name from the ballots.

Wael Grace (Al Mada) examines
what might be a split between traditional 'opinion leaders' backing
candidates and the support the activist community (which has been
protesting since December) intends to provide at the ballot box.

Meanwhile, at the US State Dept today, Secretary John Kerry addressed the issues of inclusion, pride and progress.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause.)
Thank you. Thank you. Please, please, please, please. Thank you.
(Applause.) Thank you very, very much. Ken, thank you for a generous
welcome. Thank you all. Secretary Pat Kennedy and Director General Linda
Thomas-Greenfield, thank you for being here, and others. We appreciate
it. Tara, everybody, thank you for being here.And Ken, when I heard you say you could talk forever about my efforts
on behalf of LGBT, I was sitting there, like any formerly elected
person for 29 years, and I said, “Go ahead, keep talking, keep talking.”
(Laughter.) But no such luck today.I appreciate the opportunity to be here with all of you, and very,
very special to welcome just some super special guests here, and I want
them to stand up and I want everybody to say thank you to them and
recognize them. Judy and Dennis Shepard are here, and we’re so grateful
for you being here. Thank you very, very much. Thank you. (Applause.)I remind everybody that it is amazing to think, but it has been
nearly 15 years since we mourned the tragic murder of their son,
Matthew. And I can remember very clearly meeting them previously and
speaking to the crowd gathered on the National Mall in front of the
Capitol building at a vigil that was held two nights after he was
killed. Thousands of people came together to share their grief, but also
to share their sense of outrage that such an act could be carried out,
such a senseless, violent, terrible heartbreak. And we were all standing
with Judy and Dennis on that dark night, and frankly, since then, they
have helped to lead the way through darkness and into the light, and
they’ve turned their pain and their loss into a remarkable global
message of hope and of tolerance. So, Judy and Dennis, make no mistake:
You really do inspire us and we are very honored to have you here with
us today. Thank you.I also want – I know Congressman John Lewis was here a little bit
ago, I think, and he had to leave to go vote. There are few members, few
people I’ve met in life who I admire as much as John Lewis. He was
almost killed on that day down in Selma, and he led, at the side of
Martin Luther King and others, to break the back of Jim Crow in this
country. John is just without doubt one of the most self-effacing,
beautiful human beings I have ever met and an amazing person of courage
who demonstrates what you can do against, as Bobby Kennedy said, the
enormous array of the world’s ills. So we thank him for being here
today, and most importantly, we thank him for standing up on the front
lines of fighting for people’s rights for all of these years.I also want to thank Mara Keisling from the National Center for
Transgender Equality. Thanks for being here and for your contributions.
And I want to thank Acting Assistant Secretary Uzra Zeya from our Bureau
of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. We’re very, very grateful also
to the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington for that wonderful rendition of
our national anthem, and thank you for their performance.As Ken said, I have had the privilege of being involved in the
struggle for rights, for LGBT rights, for a long period of time. And it
is a privilege. Coming from Massachusetts, maybe we inherently know
something about fighting for rights from the inception. But it wasn’t
that long ago, as I recall, and many of you, I’m sure, do too, when
things looked very different from the way they look today. If you want
an amusing read before you go to sleep, go get the transcript of my
testimony before Strom Thurmond on the Armed Services Committee 20 years
ago, when we first pushed for an end on the ban on gays in the
military. If you want to read a Senate hearing that is actually
literally like a Saturday night skit – Saturday Night Live skit, that is
it. And I won’t go into all the questions that Strom and his inimitable
accent posed to me – (laughter) – but I walked out of there thinking
that I was truly on a different planet, or he was; one or the other.
(Laughter.)But we ran into a wall of misunderstanding and of misperception. But
as we are learning even today, as we look at various places in the world
where homophobia raises its ugly and frightened head, we see that there
is fear and that a lot is driven by fear – always has been – not always
with respect to LGBT issues, but with respect to people generally, with
respect to race and religion. And this is an ongoing battle for all of
us, and believe me, not just for us; it is an ongoing battle in hidden
parts of this planet, in dark corners where there is no light, where
people are thrown into jail, or worse, beaten brutally, tortured and
even murdered because of who they are or what they believe.So we have an enormous challenge ahead of us, and all of you, every
single person here, because you have the privilege of being here in this
building, in this freedom, able to talk about this; it is because of
that that you actually bear also a larger responsibility. When I voted,
as Ken said, in 1996, I don’t claim any great act of courage. Maybe it
was because I did represent the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, but
nevertheless I was proud to be the only person running for reelection
that year in those 14 who actually voted against DOMA. And I am
confident that if the Supreme Court adheres to the law and to precedent,
that it must be found unconstitutional.Now, we also know that we’ve made progress where – (applause) – now,
if it isn’t, you can take that applause back in your home someday.
(Laughter.)Obviously, the landscape has changed remarkably fast. And every one
of you here deserves credit for that. You all know your individual
journeys in this effort, whether you are a member of the LGBT community
or whether you are a supporter and a friend and here in solidarity with
it. But everybody understands that things are changing because people
have dared to stand up and show solidarity and speak common sense and
talk truth to sometimes ugly power.And the fact is that we have an Administration today that I am proud
to say no longer defends the constitutionality of DOMA. That’s an
enormous step forward. We also have a Senate that recently welcomed its
first openly gay member, and we have a record number in the House of
Representatives. I can remember when the first person came out in the
House of Representatives within the service – time of my service in the
Senate. We also have seen how “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is now a part of
history, and that no American who wants to wear the uniform of their
country that they love will be denied the chance to serve the country
they love because of whom they love.So we’re making progress. And that is the sort of change that we are
seeing spread across the country, as state after state breaks down the
barrier – the real barriers – to honest equality, not only in the
workplace but throughout life.But we have to say, as we gather here today, that we still do have a
distance to travel. Far too many women and men and families are still
denied equality under our laws. Two of my former constituents, just to
give you an example – I got to meet them – a fellow named Junior and
Tim, who were married in Massachusetts, but because of DOMA the Federal
Government didn’t recognize their marriage. And so the law treated them
differently than if they had been man and woman, married. And time after
time, when I met with them – and I did frequently and learn how hard it
was that they couldn’t choose the path that they wanted to for
themselves – but they also reminded me in the course of their life
history what, in fact, marriage is supposed to be all about, which is an
enduring love, a love that actually keeps you together even when you’ve
been separated and it’s as if you hadn’t been. And I’ll tell you why,
because one of them was out of the country and couldn’t come back in and
we had to go through hoops to be able to actually ultimately reunite
them here in our country because of our immigration laws.They’re not alone. A few weeks ago, I was standing right here in this
room at my first town hall when a young FSO named Selim Ariturk stood
up and told a similar story about his life and his partner, whom he’d
met overseas during his first tour. And he had to jump through hoops to
be treated fairly. I know that many of you have probably experienced
very similar stories, or even experienced them individually.So the reality is, even as we celebrate, we have to come here today
and commit ourselves to the ultimate task of fulfilling equality under
the law here in our own country, and we have to be clear-eyed about the
challenges that remain. I believe that we are on an irreversible course,
and I believe happily that the United States of America is helping to
set a global example for how people ought to be treated in life. I think
that – I make this commitment to you that as Secretary of State, I will
continue to stand right where I have stood throughout my years of
elected service, and that begins with how we treat our LGBT colleagues
right here in the State Department.And I think under Pat and Linda’s and other people’s stewardship, we
are already doing an outstanding job. Same-sex partners and spouses at
overseas missions enjoy the same benefits allowed by law as all of our
employees’ families. And we’ve included a category for same-sex partners
in our personnel system. It’s now easier for transgender Americans to
change the gender on their passport. It may seem like a small thing, but
it’s a big deal. And we’ve stated unequivocally that this Department
does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender
identity.I’m happy to say that these steps reflect not just the Department
view, but President Obama’s view, and President Obama’s commitment to
full equality, no matter who you are or who you love. And as Americans
send us out to show our face to the world in this Department, we will
set an example through our respect for the rights of people everywhere.
Having GLIFAA members as part of that American face, frankly, helps us
demonstrate our leadership.Our work, though, is more than just setting an example. We got to be
out there showing up in places where progress on LGBT rights has been
slower and harder to achieve, and where using our tools of development
and diplomacy actually leverage our efforts forward in this endeavor.
And we remain focused on this and will, because American leadership
requires promoting universal values. That’s what this represents. This
isn’t an aberration. This isn’t some step out of the mainstream. It’s
actually the mainstream is out of step with what ought to be the
mainstream. The mainstream represents the recognition of universal
rights that have been true since humankind began writing about them and
defining them, and as we have moved through the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries to this place in the 21st
century, where we understand that dignity and equality and the rights
of all people are at the center of what we ought to be espousing in our
public and our private life.When we see the abuse of those values that are directed at the LGBT
community, we have a moral obligation to stand in pride with LGBT
individuals and advocates. We have a moral obligation to decry the
marginalization and persecution of LGBT persons. And we have a moral
obligation to promote societies that are more just, more fair, and
tolerant.It is the right thing to do. It’s also in our country’s strategic
interest. Greater inclusion and protection of human rights, including
those for LGBT people and for their communities, leads to greater
stability, greater prosperity, and greater protection for the rights of
human beings. Stronger partners on the world stage are built out of this
endeavor, and the truth is that in the end, it can actually help
project peace and security across the whole region.And that is why, in 2011, President Obama issued the first-ever
Presidential Memorandum on the human rights of LGBT persons globally,
directing that all agencies abroad must ensure that our diplomacy and
our foreign assistance promotes and protects these rights. And I think
we have accomplished a great deal on this issue.With our support, the UN Human Rights Council passed its first-ever
resolution affirming the rights of LGBT persons. Through PEPFAR’s
blueprint for an AIDS-free generation, we are working to scale up HIV
services for LGBT individuals, who are often at higher risk. Our Bureau
of Population, Refugees, and Migration is expanding our effort to help
LGBT refugees and asylum seekers. And we are providing LGBT travelers
with information about countries where they may face prosecution or
arrest – persecution.Overseas, we’re encouraging our missions to think about how do you
best support these goals. And here at home, we’ve set up a
Department-wide task force that will develop new approaches in order to
try to better integrate LGBT policy into our foreign policy.And through our Global Partnerships Initiative – I just met with
members of it a few minutes ago – we have set up the Global Equality
Fund, and that will support LGBT human rights defenders on the front
lines. We’re working with likeminded governments, including Norway,
France, Germany, the Netherlands, Iceland, and Finland. And we have
partnered with private sector leaders, including the MAC AIDS Fund and
the John D. Evans Foundation. I think they both are here. And we are
especially grateful to the Arcus Foundation, which will match any
corporate contribution that we receive up to $1 million. And we hope
that additional partners are going to join us in this critical effort.So all of this that I’ve talked about is a good start, my friends,
but it’s just that. It’s a start. Last week, the President appointed
three openly gay ambassadors to Denmark, Spain, and to the Organization
for the Security and Cooperation in Europe. And they will build on the
tremendous record and work by Ambassador Huebner and former Ambassadors
Hormel and Guest. In fact, I remember the confirmation hearing for
former Ambassador Hormel, which in itself was a kind of groundbreaking,
difficult process which we ultimately succeeded in winning.So we are committed to seeing more LGBT persons in senior positions
in this Department. And I ask for your input and all of your ideas, so
that in the coming days I can sit down and work with our team here to
ensure that the Department is properly resourcing and prioritizing our
international efforts for the next generation of LGBT progress.I think everybody here knows this isn’t automatic, not always an easy
path. There is fear, and from the fear, the hate that sometimes comes
with it that translates too often into violence. We still see
anti-propaganda laws in Eastern Europe that are targeting LGBT
demonstrators. We still hear reports of violence amongst – against
transgender persons in Latin America and Asia. We still see the
enforcement of archaic sodomy laws in the Caribbean, and we see abuse
and incarceration of LGBT activists in Africa.But I believe, as I think you do, that today we come here in pride,
with pride, to celebrate the fact that the winds of freedom are blowing
in the right direction. We know that the intolerance towards LGBT
brothers and sisters fades with each passing generation. And it is with a
belief in our common humanity, in the fundamental worth of every human
being, that we have to keep moving forward towards our goal of shared
justice and equality here in our country and around the world.So I especially join here today in saying to our GLIFAA members and
to all of you, Happy Pride every day the world over. Thank you for the
privilege of being with you. Thank you. (Applause.)Please sit down. I gather we’re going to do a couple questions, so we’ll – I’ll do that.

We'll include the questions tomorrow. Monday, a State Dept friend noted
this upcoming speech and asked if we'd note it? Yes. Of course, we
will. It's significant and important and, yes, historical. We don't
have room for the speech and for the questions -- today. So we'll note
Secretary Kerry's remarks today and include the Q&A tomorrow --
which you can read right now at this State Dept webpage. If you'd prefer to watch or listen, the speech is here on YouTube -- and it has the closed caption option -- an option Secretary Kerry has pretty much made a mandate in his push for inclusion.

About Me

I'm a black working mother. I love to laugh and between work and raising kids, I need a good laugh. I'm also a community member of The Common Ills. Shout outs to any Common Ills community members stopping by. Big shout out to C.I. for all the help getting this started. I am not married to Thomas Friedman, credit me with better taste, please. This site is a parody.